LIVING THE SMART LIFE IN 2020 – All the latest news from John Ross Smart Homes

LIVING THE SMART LIFE IN 2020 – All the latest news from John Ross Smart Homes

LIVING THE SMART LIFE IN 2020 – All the latest news from John Ross Smart Homes

30th January 2020John Ross Smart Homes

Living the Smart Life in 2020

So Christmas is wrapped for another year – that beardy bampot in Wizzard may wish that it’s Christmas every day, but here in the Ross household we were happy to get the decorations down and crack on with an exciting New Year.

One thing we’re looking forward to this year is helping our customers to unleash the power of digital music. If, like me, you love listening to music, you’ve never had it so good! When I first started in this game, the HiFis that I sold had cassette players (kids, ask your parents)… can you remember all the jiggery pokery that you had to go through to get to your favourite track? Fast forward… back a bit… no, too far… buggrit, that’ll do. And that’s not to mention needing to keep a pencil to hand at all times so you could tighten the reels when the tape spewed out.

Nowadays thanks to the likes of Spotify and Apple Music we have millions of songs on tap 24/7 via our smartphones, for whatever the mood and occasion demands. But this in itself often presents a problem – how long do you spend scrolling and tapping away, trying to find the perfect track? I swear sometimes we spend longer searching than we do listening!

And speaking of phones, what are you listening to your music on? The convenience and portability of smartphones mean that many people have sacrificed audio quality – it’s bad enough if you’re using unsociable ear buds (music is for sharing!) or an underpowered Bluetooth speaker that blarts out less bass than a dog whistle, but if you’re still using your smartphone’s built-in speaker then we can never be friends.

Of course it doesn’t have to be like this, and we’re here to show you the future… now.

Imagine your music system giving you rich, quality sound in any room you want, that follows you through the house and fills your ears with velvety goodness wherever you are. In the shower, bath, bedroom, kitchen, patio, all at the touch of a button or screen. It can even greet you when you come home, automatically triggered by the proximity of your phone, saving the time spent pairing, scrolling, and swiping, and replacing it with more listening time instead – time to enjoy, time to relax, time to feel better.

It will bring cheer when you need a pick-me-up , make you warm when you are cold, give you comfort when you are down. All the while freeing you up to roam and enjoy life, which, after all, is what we are here for.

The better the quality of music, the better we will feel. Why not call in and ask for a demo?

Top Tech Tip

We all want to save the planet – and yet we all probably leave our TV on standby at night. Did you know that some makes of TV use almost the same power when on standby as they do when they are fully on?Help is at hand with our inexpensive plug-in units that completely cut the power to your TV and power it back on again when you need it. They’re controlled by a simple-to-use app, which gives your phone something to do now that you’ve stopped listening to music through it. You can even programme it to switch off at specific times… I use it to remind me to stop watching TV and go to bed!

It saves you money and helps to reduce your carbon footprint – what’s not to love? Give us a call if you want to know a bit more about these energy-saving gadgets.

What’s new

Gallo Acoustic speakers – made in Scotland! They are super stylish yet small and discreet – plus they come in pretty much any colour you can think of. Pop in to see our new demo case and have a listen.

Focus On – Dude, where’s my internet?

Remember last month we teased you with a story about a customer for whom we gave a life-changing improvement in his internet speed?

So how did Mr Slow Internet become Mr Let’s-binge-watch-three-seasons-of-The-Crown-in-one-night?

Well, what we did was to install a 4G Router with an external aerial to pull in as much signal as possible and therefore as much speed as is available. In many areas of Rural Perthshire the outdoor 4G data signal is surprisingly strong. We gave him a Vodafone unlimited data SIM card with their top speed guaranteed and away he went – browsing the internet to his heart’s content, without the stress and frustration that he had become accustomed to. To him and countless others who’ve suffered with little-to-no internet, we’re everyday heroes. But we don’t like to talk about it.

Next month: Dude, where’s my wifi?

We recently welcomed another customer who was at their wits end with woeful wifi. They could only get wifi in certain parts of their house – in actual fact it was only good when they were standing by their Internet Hub, which happened to be in a small cupboard off the kitchen… and who wants to stand in a dark cupboard to use the internet? Actually, don’t answer that.

Following careful assessment, signal measurement and a frank conversation with the customer we came up with a very cunning plan… did we mention that the house is a 3-storey, 100 year old home which is Grade A Listed and has 3 foot thick walls in most places, as well as being decorated to the highest standards internally?

Thanks to us, he now enjoys full speed wifi in every room and area of the home, including the small annexe cottage and his garage which has his office above it. That cupboard has become a lonely place.

COVID19 UPDATE

We would like our customers to know that, following government guidelines and advice, we have closed the shop and stopped any non-essential installation and service work.

We are still contactable and are happy to offer advice either by phone - 01738566566 or email - enquiries@johnrosshifi.co.uk.
We are happy to chat and see if your problems can be resolved remotely without a physical visit. If a remote fix is not possible, and your situation makes it essential to have the problem resolved, we can assess the possibility of visiting safely whilst keeping within the current guidelines.

We would also be delighted to chat over any plans you have for work required after we return to normal and, as video calls become much more popular, we are happy to offer this option where a face-to-face meeting would be more acceptable.

We value all our customers and friends and are really sorry we can't provide our normal level of service. After almost 20 years of providing service in the Perthshire area we are all finding this very difficult, but please be assured that we will be here for you when normal service resumes in time.